Weird. I was just about to sart a similar thread, then boom there it is. I was also going to ask for people's Wrestlemania moments since I knew most peopel would just be saying X7 and X.

Well, for my favorite I still gotta stick with Wrestlemania VIII. I know there was crap on there, but I just have such fond memories of it. Savage/Flair and Hart/Piper are probably in my top five WM matches of all time. I remember my heart beating faster by the end of the Piper/Hart match. I was that into it.

Everyone always says X7, but I'll have to re-watch it to get a good read on it. I just watched it on its initial run, and I had a lot of friends over being loud and distracting. Time to pull out the tape.

As far as my favorite moments (in no particular order):-Savage and Elizabeth reuntie-Savage wins first WWF title-Hart beats Piper to regain the IC title-Warrior returns to save Hogan at WM VIII-Savage beats Flair for the title-Hogan being carted off and saluting the Warrior at VIRick Rude wins the IC title with Bobby Hennan grabbing the Warrior's leg at WM V-Every ladder or TLC match (Micahels/Ramon and Hardys/Dudleys, E&C stuff)-E&C sitting atop their ladder structure with their first WWF tag titles at WM 2000.-Michaels' celebration after winning his first WWF title. -Jericho/Angle/Benoit making their WM debuts all in the same match. -Hogan/Andre stare down-Savage/Stamboat-Hart defeating Yokozuna, righting the wrong from a year previous. Also, the post match celebration with the faces in the ring. I love face celebrations when one of them defeats a mighty foe.

Gee, I have a lot of Savage stuff. He was my favorite for years.

Why is it the older Wrestlemanias had so many crap matches, yet seem more "special" than today's WMs? Is it nostalgia, me being a kid back then, or the fact that there was only like four PPVs a year then? Maybe it's a combo.

I agree with you there on the nostalgia front. A great memory I had was of one of the crappier Wrestlemanias, WM 13. That was the first time I saw HHH. He was going after Marlena (HELLO?! If I choose between Goldust and a MAN, I'd choose the MAN!! Sorry, personal rant). He wrestled Goldust that night, and the match wasn't all that, but then CHYNA SHOOK THE HELL OUTTA HER! BWA HAA HAA! Of course, I only cheered Chyna then, because Marlena chose the guy who would dump her ass a few months later anyway... moron.

See, WM 13 didn't seem special at all to me, and I was there! So maybe it is an age thing (I was in my 20s already). But I think the live weekly shows with big name matches and PPVs every month is the main thing dragging down WM in the "specialness" department.

I remember getting super-hyped for Wrestlemania the day after the Royal Rumble was over. But now you could never go back to that since there are so many shows to fill and everything is so face paced. Going back to that would seem like nothing is ever happening or advancing quickly enough.

I've got to say WM IV is my favorite, but only because I'm an absolute sucker for tournamants. Survivor Series 98 is my favorite PPV, and one of my favorite angle of all time was the 32-man WCW Title tournament.

It's not just wrestling though. I mean, Bloodsport is one my top 5 favorite movies.

Originally posted by JaguarHey, Wrestlemania 2000 was good too. Dunno which I'd deem better, 2000 or X-7. Wish I had 2000 on a tape to review...

-Jag

I have both on tape. X7 is far superior for a few reasons. Firstly, the crowd heat is much better for X7. Anaheim is notorious for being a dead crowd (this is the same town that walked out on HBK's celebration at WM XII). Secondly, the undercard was amazing at X7. Angle/Benoit, TLC 2, HHH/Undertaker, the above average hardcore triple threat match, Vince/Shane, hell Eddie/Test wasn't that bad either. Compare that to 2000 and its silly hardcore battle royale and "Thong, bra and panties bullshit" match. Thirdly, Rock/Austin was a much more dramatic main event. At 2000, you knew it would come down to Rock and HHH. The other two guys were there to pad the match and the buyrate. X7 is much more rewatchable because of the great heat, the big time atmosphere due to the dome, and the superior wrestling. 2000 is a good show, but lacks the intangible (heat) that is basically left out of the performers' hands.

X-7: Awesome from top to bottom. Only flaw is Austin's weak home state heel turn and the cheap finish in the main event.

X: Two of the all-time great matches (ladder match, Bret/Owen) and a pretty decent undercard too. Seeing Bret get the title back was a major thing for me, since I was a huge Hitman fan at the time.

VIII: Flair/Savage, Bret/Piper, Undertaker beats the shit out of Jake the Snake, and Hogan leaves!!!....for a year.

XIV: The event that turned it around for the WWF and started the Attitude era.

III: The pinnacle of 80's wrestling. Can't top Aretha Franklin, Savage/Steamboat and Hogan/Andre.

XVI (forget that 2000 crap): Despite only the ONE singles match on the card -- and that was a bikini match -- it was still quite a good event that gets overshadowed by the shocking Triple H win in the main event.

VII: The Hogan/Slaughter angle gets a lot of flak (and rightfully so), but this wasn't a bad card. The Savage/Warrior match and the Elizabeth reunion afterwards is a great moment.

V: Hogan/Savage in a huge match, Perfect/Blue Blazer, and my personal favourite moment from this one, Rick Martel has one of the best abrupt heel turns ever.

XVII: Michaels/Bret for over an hour. Since the event was basically a one-match card, I have to rate it on the one match. It lagged in places, it was still suitably epic. This WrestleMania is the middle-ground of them all.

XI: This was basically In Your House: WrestleMania. Nothing really bad about this card, but also nothing really outstanding. Lawrence Taylor vs. Bam Bam was a nice surprise.

IV: The idea of a tournament was pretty cool, but the matches themselves were pretty dull.

VI: Hogan/Warrior is worlds better than anyone expects, but the rest of the card is honestly pretty brutal.

XV: Let the overbooking commence. Every match was screwy or featured interference except for Bart Gunn/Butterbean (and Bart was praying for a run-in).

XIII: Bret/Austin is awesome. The street fight is okay. The rest is downright crap.

II: The three cities gimmick didn't really work to any great advantage. Another one match card, and since the one match (Bulldogs/Dream Team) is worse than Austin/Bret, I rank this one lower.

I: Since it was the first time, can't really fault the WWF for working the kinks out.

IX: Since it was the NINTH time, can totally fault the WWF for having a card full of kinks.

Originally posted by JaguarHey, Wrestlemania 2000 was good too. Dunno which I'd deem better, 2000 or X-7. Wish I had 2000 on a tape to review...

-Jag

I have both on tape. X7 is far superior for a few reasons. Firstly, the crowd heat is much better for X7. Anaheim is notorious for being a dead crowd (this is the same town that walked out on HBK's celebration at WM XII). Secondly, the undercard was amazing at X7. Angle/Benoit, TLC 2, HHH/Undertaker, the above average hardcore triple threat match, Vince/Shane, hell Eddie/Test wasn't that bad either. Compare that to 2000 and its silly hardcore battle royale and "Thong, bra and panties bullshit" match. Thirdly, Rock/Austin was a much more dramatic main event. At 2000, you knew it would come down to Rock and HHH. The other two guys were there to pad the match and the buyrate. X7 is much more rewatchable because of the great heat, the big time atmosphere due to the dome, and the superior wrestling. 2000 is a good show, but lacks the intangible (heat) that is basically left out of the performers' hands.

I think you're really underestimating the midcard at WM2000. You mention the Hardcore Battle Royal and the Women's match? What about E&C, Hardyz, & Dudleyz in the ladder match(the best installment of this series of matches, IMO, because it was new at the time), what about Angle vs. Jericho vs. Benoit for the IC & Euro titles?

And while Show and Foley were extraneous to the main event, yes, what was wrong with it coming down to Rock & HHH? That was what everyone wanted it to come down to.

I think that WM2000 was a fantastic PPV. Though I do agree that the crowd heat for that show was awful.

I haven't seen a whole lot of Wrestlemanias but I did see X-7 and thought it was overrated. Benoit vs. Angle was good and the hardcore match and TLC 2 matches had a few good spots, but I saw nothing else good there. HHH vs. Undertaker was dull I don't see why everyone talks about this being so good. And Vince and Shane should never be able to wrestle, much less against each other. Sure the Gimmick Battle Royal was nice to see some past wrestlers, but was also boring. Test and Eddie was passable but nothing special. The Rock and Stone Cold was supposed to be the big showdown and I thought they didn't handle it well at all.

Personally I liked Wrestlemania 14 better. Like I said TLC 2 was nice, but they are starting to overdo the gimmick matches. I liked Chainsaw Charlie/Cactus Jack vs. NAO Dumpster Match better. Then also on WM 14 you had HHH vs. Owen, The Rock vs. Shamrock, Kane vs. Undertaker, which wasn't a five star match but i'd rather watch it again than that overrated HHH vs. Undertaker match, and then Stone Cold vs. HBK.

I have to disagree with Show and Foley just being side-pieces to the real show. Well, okay, I knew Big Show was going to lose first, but I didn't know what kind of a factor he'd be in the whole match. As for Foley, who didn't want to see him go out on top? It would've been perfectly acceptable to have Foley win the belt and then retire, leaving Rock and HHH to battle it out again on RAW. And of course, the finish for that match was amazing. I hated HHH so much going up to that match, and I hated him even more coming out of it. At X7 we were all placing bets on when Vince would come down, and who he would help (in my house anyway). We knew it was gonna happen, but at 2000 none of my friends really thought HHH could walk away with the belt with both Foley and Rocky in his way.

For quality of matches: 17, I suppose. The TLC match, UT/HHH, Austin/Rock, Vince/Shane, and Angle/Benoit were all very good. Plus seeing the gimmick battle royal entrances ruled.

Runner up: 10, almost completely due to Bret/Owen and HBK/Razor ladder match.

For atmosphere and "feel": 3. I was there, so I may be a little biased, but even when I see it on tape, my decision remains the same. The card actually wasn't that great (Savage/Steamboat and the hype around Hulk/Andre made it seem better than it was), but I've never seen an event match the atmosphere of WM III.

Runner up: 17. The crowd knew they were gonna see a good show, so they weren't dead. The presentation, with the giant video wall and extra long ramp just made it look like a production they put some effort into. This was the first "only one wrestling company in the United States" PPV, and they wanted to make sure any WCW straggler fans got hooked on the WWF.

Overall, Mania X-7 is by far the best WrestleMania ever, and perhaps best PPV ever full stop. WMX had two awesome matches, and the rest was crap. In contrast, X-7 had Jericho/Regal (**3/4), Raven/Kane/Show (**), Test/Eddie (***), Benoit/Angle (****), Vince/Shane (*** for the storyline quotient), TLC 2 (****1/2), the Gimmick Battle Royal (great for old memories), Taker/HHH (**1/2-***1/2, depending on your opinion) and Rock/Austin (****3/4).